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(N0 Model. -s Sheets-Sheet 1;

J. B. WILLIS.

TELEGRAPH APPARATUS FOR sjms. No. 400,985. PatentedApr. 9, 1889.

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5 Sheets-Sheet 2.

(No Model.)

J. B. WILLIS.

TELEGRAPH APPARATUS FOR SHIPS.

Patented Apr. 9, 1889.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 3.

J. B. WILLIS. TELEGRAPH APPARATUS FOR SHIPS.

N0.400 985 PatentedApnQ, 1889.

I WV Z KJJeJ, I g g W V v I M (No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

J. B. WILLIS. TELEGRAPH APPARATUS FOR SHIPS.

N0.4O0,;98 5.' PatentdApr.9,- 1 889.

III/III val/10 11 (NmModL) i -5 Sheets-Sheet 5.

J. B. WILLIS. TELEGRAPH APPARATUS FOR SHIPS.-

No. 400,985. Patented Apr. 9. 1889.

ENGINE ROOM BELL BRIDGE BELL WITNESSES I INVENTOR I J: Q, 7 l/ fltto'rneys W1 lily siren Snares JAMES BONELLE WILLIS, OF PORTSMOUTH, COUNTY OF HANTS, ENGLAND.

TELEGRAPH APPARATUS FOR SHIPS.

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 400,985, dated April 9, 1889.

Application filed February 7, 1888- Serial No. 263,256. lNo model.) Patented in England January 18, 1887, No. 800; in France L ec c-mher 7, 1887, No. 187,446; in Belgium December 8,1887, No. 79,839; in Germany December 21, 188771). 45,392; in ltaly December 31, 1887, No. 22,756; in NoIway February 6, 1888, N- 884; in Austria-Hungary March 29, 1888, N0- BBQSSS; in Spain May- 23, 1888,1l0. 7,945, and in Portugal June 6, 1888, No. 1,249.

T0 (013? whom it may conccrwf Be'it known that I, JAMES BONELLE WILLIS, draftsman and engineer, a subject of the Queen of Great Britain, residing at 1 Mill +Lane, Mile End, Portsmouth, in the county of .ing arm.

Hants, England, have invented certain Inew and useful improvements in Telegraph Apparatus for Ships andoiherPurposes, (for which I have received Letters Patent in Great Britain, No. 800, dated January 18, 1887, sealed March 29, 1888; in France, No. 187,44(i,dated December 7, 1887; in Belgiuni,No. 79,839, dated December 8, 1887; in Austria-Hungary, No. 38/863, dated lviaroh 29, 1888; in Germany, No. 45,392, dated December 21, 1887; in Italy, 31022556, dated December 81, 1887; in Norway, No. 88%, dated February 6, 1888; in Portugal, No. 1,2110, dated June 6', 1888, and in 7 Spain, No. 7,945, dated May 23,1888,) of which the following is a specification.-

This invention has for its object improvements in electric-telegraph apparatus suitable :t'or use to communicate between the bridge and the engine-room of a steamship, and z-tpplicahle, also, to other uses. The trans mitting-instrumcnt is provided with a handle movable around a stud or axis, which, by preference, is horizontal. tended to be'placed in positions correspond ing to the signals to be transmitted, such as stopf slow, half-speed, and full speed, hoth ahead and astern. Up'm the handle-lever at a short distance from the axis a spring-drum is carried. Two chains pass around the drum and are led from it over guide-pulleys and attached to a contact-mak- This arm is alsomovable around the central stud or axis, and it carries a spring contact-piece, which bears against a.

stationary arc, in which conducting and nonconducting strips are inserted at intervals. Around the central boss of this contact-arm gear-teeth are provided. They engage with a pinion which, through other toothed gear, drives a fly. This flyrcstrains the movement of the contact-arm and compels it to travel slowly, for the fly has to make many revolutions while the arm moves a comparatively The chains which connect This handle is in-' handle are directed by guide-pulleys, so that the chains approach the contact-arm from 0pposite sides. the one side, the chain passing to the other side of the arm is strained, and but for the rotation of the spring-drum the handle could .not be moved rapidly. On the other hand, the chain on the side toward which the lever-is moved is slackened and would fall loose, but that one of the pulleys over which it passes is movable and controlled by a light spring, so that this When the handle is moved to guide-pulley moves and takes up what would otherwise be the slack of the chain. Thus,

however rapidly the handle may be moved.

from one position to another in order to transmit a fresh order to the engine-room, the contact arm will follhw only at its leisure and at such a speed that the receiving-instrument 'canact with certainty. In addition to the parts already described, the transmitter also contains the following: The handle is provided with a locking-bolt which is lifted and released when the handle is gripped, and which, when the handle has been moved to a proper position for giving a signal, drops into a hole in the base or frame as soon as the han-I die is released. This bolt-locks the handle so that it cannot be moved accidentally or otherwise, except when it is gripped with the hand. Fixed to the contact-arm there is a disk, and in the periphery of the disk isanoteh. When the apparatus is at rest, the end of a small lever mounted on the handle drops into the notch. On this lever there is a spring, intended to close an electric circuit. When the handle-is gripped, the lever is removed from the notch in the ring, and its contact-spring is caused to bear upon a metal arc, and so to close the main circuit, the course of which is hereinafter traced. When the handle is moved to one side or the other to give a sigdo immediately, and the circuit through the apparatus s then open. The circuit, so far as it is contained in the transmittinginstru ment, is traced from the line-wire to the conducting contact-strip on which the contactarm bears, through the contact-arm and other parts to'the contact-spring of the lever on the handle, and so to the insulated metal are on which this contactspring bears, and again to line. 'l Vhen the contacharm travels oii a con ducting-strip, the circuit is for a time open, to be again closed when. the cont-actarm reaches the next contact-strip, andso on until the contact-arm comes to a stop on one of these conducting-strips and the lever on the handle enters the retaining-notch. The circuit is then opened independently of the contactarm, and remains so until the handle of the signaling apparatus is again gripped and shifted to a new position. The receivingdnstrument, say, in the engine-room is provided with three elec'tro-magnets set around a central axis at an angular distance of one hundred and twenty degrees the one from the other. Each electromagnet is provided with an armature movable around a stud or fulcrum at one end, and at the other connected by a rod with a pin set eccentrically upon a disk carried by the cen' tral axis. Each armature, when it is attracted, thrusts the axis round a third of a revolution,

and, the magnets operating in due order, the

rotation is maintained as long as maybe necessar This axis is cared b means oi. a a: d

pinion upon it with a toothed wheel upon another axis, and this'axis carries an index which points-on a dial to the signals as they are respending to each signal.

ceived. The index moves one space, or the interval between one signal and the next, as each electro-magnet attracts its armature, and so one, two, or three steps can be made for the fourth step. \Vhen this is required, the first magnet operates a second time in due sequence after ,the third magnet, and so, by the magnets operating in regular rotation, any desired number of steps, and in either direct-ion, may he obtained. The transmit ting-instrument, it will be understood, is provided with a separate contact-strip corro- There is also a fourth electro-magnct in the receiving-in strument, through the coils of which the current passes when it traverses the coils of either of the magnets previously mentioned. This fourth magnet serves to lift a brake-piece from the surface of a wheel on the axis of the index while the propelling-magnet is in operation. When the brake-magnet does not on crate, a spring causes the return of the brake, and the index is then looked, so that it cannot by any accidental vibration be shifted from its true position. This brake-magnet also has another function. At the same time that it lifts the brake-piece it closes together two contact-springs, which form part of a separate circuit, including a battery and two electric bells. There is one hell in the engine-room near, the indicator, and the other access on the bridge with the transmitter; hence each time that the indicator passes from one .connected in series with the hralce'magneu signal to another the bells sound.

The main battery for workingthe approatus is located in any convcnicn t position and The circuit from the battery passes through the brake-magnet, through one of the propelling-magnets, through the corresponding contact-piece in the transmitter, through the contactrarm of this instrument, and so to the arc with which the lover-spring" closes contact. This are is permanently connected with the other pole of the main battery.

In order that my said invention may be most fully understood and readily carried into effect, I will proceed to describe the drawings hereunto annexed.

In the drawings, Figure l is a front clevir tion of transmitting apparatus arrain god in accordance with my invention. it is shown with a portion of the casing removed and with the central stud or axis in section. l i 2 is a vertical section of this iostrumcnt,and in the figure part of the (easing is omitted. 3 is an elevation of the receiver. Fig. i. a diagram illustrating the circuit-connections. Fig. 5 is a front clevaticm of a transmitter, diilering in some of its details from that'shown by Figs. 1 and 2. Some of the casing and some other parts arcoznitted from this figure. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the transmitter shown by Fig. 5. Fig. 7 shows separately in elevation the handle of this instrument. Fig. 8 shows a receiver of modified form. Fig. 9 is a sectional elevation showing the gear which I prefer to employin connection with this receiver; and Fig. 10 is a diagram showing circuit-conncctions with a receiver at the transmitter and in the engine room, and a hell also at each place.

In Figs. 1 and 2, A is a fixed central stud or axis, preferably horizontal, and ii is a hand-lever with handle ,lri movable around this stud or axis. B is the lockingbolt,

which, entering correspom'ling holes in the frame of the instrun'icnt, retains the handle in the position in which it has been placed. 0 a drum containing a coiled stool i-apriug. It is mounted upon a stud, C, lined into the handle-lever B. l) .l) are chains tired to the periphery of the drum 0 and passin from it to the contactanakin g arm E and to a stud, it, upon which they, are attacheil. The cl'urimi are directed by guide-pulleys F i so that the chains are brought to the contactarm from opposite sides. The guidepulleys h F are mounted on studs fixed into the lmndlelever B; but the axes of the guide-pulleys F F are carried by levers G G, which are movable upon the handh-r-levcr ii, and a coiled spring, G ,conneotiug the shorter ends oi? the levers G, tends to separate the pull eye l F, and. so to prevent the chains from becoming slaclr. h is also a roller or p ulley carried by lever B below the hearing A, and also engages the cords D D as the lever ll is moved. Wis

a spring contact-piece at the extremity of the contact-arm E. It bears constantly upon an are, H, and this are is made up alternately of insulated conducting-strips and non-conducting spaces. The number of these conducting-strips will be ditferentin different cases.

' seen in Tigs. i and 10, three such wires in connection with these insulated strips, and Whatever be the number of strips employed the first, fourth,and the seventh strip will be connected with one wire, the second, fifth, and eighth with another 'wire,and the third, sixth, and the ninth with a third wire. Any greater or less number of conducting-strips will be connected in a similarv manner. E is an arc of teeth carried by the contact arm E. It

gears with a pinion, I, and on the same axis with the pinion there is a toothed Wheel, 1, which drives a pinion carrying upon its axis the fly .I, so that whenever the contact-arm E moves the fly J revolves, and, as before explained, the resistance of this fly regulates the speed of the movement of the arm. K is a lever carried upon the handle-lever B, and

on it is the small coi-itact-spring K. It also carries a pawl, K notch, L, in a metal are, L, fixed upon the contact arm E. It is pressed up into this notch by the spring Ki. When, however, the handle is grasped and its locking-bolt B disengaged, a pin, 15*, upon the locking-bolt operates against the tail of the lever K and dis places the pawl K from the notch L. At the same time it brings the contact-spring K into contact with the insulated metal'arc M, which remains always connected with the returnwire from the receiver, and this completes the electrical circuit, provided that a contactpiece be at the time bearing upon one of the insulated metal strips in the are. If after grasping the handle it be moved around the stud A for the purpose of giving asignal, the pawl K will pass away from the notch L and the contact-spring K will continue to bear on the metal are M after the handle has been released and its bolt B has entered one of the holes in the frame provided to receive it; but when, in consequence of the movement of'the contact-arm E, the notch L is again brought to the pawl K this will rise into the notch and the contact between the spring K and.

the metal are M will cease.

In the receiver represented by Fig. 3', N N N are three .electro-magnets, each connected with aseparate line-wire passing from the transmitter to the receiver, and all connected to the same returmwire. O O O are the ar matures of these electro-Inagnets. They are pivoted at O", and their other or free ends have connectingqods P P P jointed to them.

The pawl K? drops into a pin, Q, set eccentrically on the central axis, Q. This axis Q has a pinion upon ii, and it drives another axis which carries a finger pointing upon a dial to words corresponding .to the signals sent by the transmitter. R is a fourth electro-magnet which the receiver contains. Its coils are connected with the return-wire, so that when a current passes in ei ther of the magnets N it also passes through the coils of the fourth magnet, S is the armature of this magnet, It is pivoted at S, and at the end opposite to that on which the electro-magnet operates it carries the pressure brake-block T by a spring-connection. An ivory button at the end of the armature- .lever also bears upon the springs U U and 'when'the magnet attracts thearmature 1t presses these springs together and completes an additional electric circuit in which'a hell or bells are included; but when the armature is not attracted the springs U U separate, and they move the armature-lever in such a manner as to ,bringjthe block T against -the periphery ofthe toothed wheel on the axis which carries the indicating finger or pointer. I prefer to provide two receivers, one being placed with the transmitting-instrument on the bridge, so that it serves as an indicator to the operator.

The construction of the transmitter shown by Figs. 5, 6, and 7 is similar to that al- IOC' ver K, however, (shown in Figs. 1 and 2,) isdispensed with, and in its place the bolt of the lever-handle is connected inthe manner shown with a central pin, V, so that when the bolt is withdrawn the pin carried in the end thereof is pressed inward, and it then makes electrical contact against the spring W. The

closing of the circuit is thus made dependent upon the grip'of the handle being maintained for a sufiicient time, and this in practice will generally'be found suificient, for unless the contact-making arm be adjusted to move at an unnecessarily slow speed it will in all cases have arrived atthe end of its journey before the handle has been brought correctly to the position at which it is to be left and the bolt on the handle has dropped into. its hole to lock the handle in place. I, however, in any case provide a notched arc, X, upon the contact-making arm E, and I provide a pawl-lever, Y, upon the parts which are fixed to the lever-handle. The pawl-lever drops into the notch when the lever-handle and the contactarm come together, and it thus aids in bringing the'contact-arm to rest in the proper position.

In Fig. 8 another form of receiver is repre sented. a a. a are thethree electro-magnets, as before. I) b b are their armatures. They are now pivoted by the loweredge at b b, and at the opposite edge they carry a pin, 0, that is free to turn therein. On the head of the pin Lil are pivots c'" c", and these enter holes in forked. connectinga-ods dd d, which all embrace an eccentriepin, c", on the end of the axis a. The axis 9, as is shown by Fig. 9, has a worm, 6, upon it, and this engages with a wormwheehf. g is a beveled Wheel on the same axis with the worm-Wheel, and it gears with the beveled pinion g n the axis 7), and it is this axis which. carries the finger or pointer which indicates the signals upon the face of the dial. When gear of this description is employed, the fourth electro-magnct (shown in Fig. 25,) maybe dispensed with, for, however rapidly the instrument may be worked, the pointer cannot overrun, nor can it be accidentally displaced from its position by jars, such as the instrument may receive from the tiring of guns or from other causes.

llaying; now particularly described and ascertained the nature of my said invention and in what manner the same is to be performed, l declare that what I ZT-laim is 1. The (mlilblDtEhiOl'X, substantially as doncribed, in an electric-telcgraph transmitter, of contact-making arm, a series oi contacts ,over which it travels and to any one of which it nniy he moved, an electric signaling cin cnit in which the arm and contacts are included, a movablehandle whose movement is to be signaled, yieldinc'ly coupled with said arm and by which the arm in a y be moved to any ct said circuit-completing contacts, and a speed-controller connected with the contact-nrm and regulating the speed of its for ward movcmcntas it follows the handle independently of the movement of the handle, whereby whether the handle be moved rapidly or slowly good cont-acts are obtained, as described, and a locking-bolt for holding the handle in any desired position.

2. The combination, substantially as de scribed, of a transmitter which when operated by the movement of a. handle transmits currents in succession through three line-wi res, an electric telegraph-recciver consistin of three electro-m agnets synnnetrieally arranged around a circle and each included in one of said wires, armatnres to theseinagnets, a central axis with cceen'tric'pin, connect]ng-rods passing from the armatures to the eccentricpin, and gear connecting the central axis with an axis on which is an index orpointer showin g the signals upon a dial, as herein set forth, the 1'eturn'\vire,and the are on the transmitter to which the returirwire is connected.

cocoon 3. The combination of a transmitter haring a contactenndcer, a series of contacts, a handle yieldingly connected with the contact maker, and a spccchcontrollcr connected with the cox1tact-1nakcr, for the purpose d cseribcd, line-wires connected with said contacts, a receiver having an eleetro-magnet in each of said line-wires, and an indicator o mrated by said magnets, as set: forth, and a return conductor with which all oi. said wires are connected after passing through their magnets, returning to the contact-makcr or the trans' miller, and circuit making and ln'caking, de vices for opening and closing the circuit of the roturnconduct1or.

-l-. The combination of a transmitter having n c intact-maker, a series of contacts, a handle yioldinglyconnect dwith theeontactmaker, and a speed-cont roller (flilllllfititltl with the contact-maker, tor the 1m r ms-e dei-acribed, lino-wires connected with said contacts, a recei yer llari negan cleetro-nnnrnet in each of said line-wires, and an indicator operated by said magnets, as set forth, a return-rendnctorwith which all ot said line-wires are connected it may be moved, an cdcctric signaling-cireuit in which the arm and contacts are ineluded, a movable handle pivotall y connected with the cont-act'malting arm, the inilleys on the arm, the chains secured to the arm and mssiiigover the pulleys, the sprilie-actuated drum to which the chains or cords are connected, the fly-wheel, gearing between the flywheel and the coutact-malcin arm, the pivoted levers (it, the spring: connecting them at their upper end, and the pulleys on their lower ends, over which the chains pass which connect the contact-making arm with the operating-handle.

JAMES HONELLE W'llJlti.

ilitncsses: 

